I'm desperate for something to help my allergy

I suffer badly from a seasonal allergy which starts in March and lasts for a couple of months. It only started a few years ago when I lived in New York for six months, but it has come back last year and again this year at the same time. ...

02/02/2011

Question

I suffer badly from a seasonal allergy which starts in March and lasts for a couple of months.

It only started a few years ago when I lived in New York for six months, but it has come back last year and again this year at the same time.

I don't know what it is I am allergic to and I have tried many antihistamines – all to no effect. My GP was not very useful at all.

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I would like to know how to find an allergist for tests to find out what it is I am allergic to, which other medicines I should try and whether I can get injections.

There seems to be no reason as to when it gets better or worse – I can be inside or outside, on a train or in different parts of the country (or world).

I have tried Zirtek (used to work, now no longer works at all), Clarityn (no effect whatsoever), Piriton (short-term effect, but made me feel queasy) and Benadryl (minimal, sporadic effect).

I hope you can point me in the right direction because I have found no help so far.

Answer

Well, you certainly seem to have all the symptoms of an allergy to something.

It can be very difficult to pin down exactly what causes an allergy. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, I am unable to say what my patients are allergic to and have to just treat their symptoms as best as I can.

The main medication I use would be either a broad acting anti-histamine, such as loratidine (Clarityn) or, if symptoms were more severe, chlorpheniramine (Piriton).

I do find with adults, though, that such broad-acting antihistamines are not so effective and that I will probably have to add in either nose drops or eye drops, depending on my patient's specific symptoms.

You do not mention any of the latter in the information you have sent me, so it would be worth discussing with your GP as to whether he or she feels that any of those medications could help you.

Allergy testing is an area rife with pitfalls for the unwary.

The vast majority of so-called 'allergists' are not medically trained. Although they might mean well, they may not understand the significance of certain symptoms that would raise alarm signals within a medically-trained professional.

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There are conventional allergy clinics in most hospitals within the UK and it might also be worth discussing a referral to such a clinic with your GP.

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